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The Head
Magnamia's northern most region, known as The Head, is separated from the Torso region to the south by the Neck at the Killen River that spans most of the neck from the Budov Lake '''in the west to the Eastern '''Shudora Lake. Both lakes had been fairly small before the Period of Destruction but grew into two of the continent’s largest lakes from the large amount of water that drained from the snow covered mountains. The Mountains Spine '''that drained into Lake Shudora and '''The Udin Mountains '''that drained into Budov had been covered in thick snow through much of the period and coupled with the snow covered hill and low lands around the Neck flooded the area for years. But the '''Killen River and Marshlands '''remained a wetland due to the damns and outlets the Southern Hartham king created as a defensive measure to limit access into the North. The North is known for many of its long rivers and many lakes that grew during the Period of Destruction from the snowfall. The northernmost lake is '''Ell Lake '''that flows south and drains through the '''Buchid River '''all the way into the main tributary; '''The Weer River '''which flows into the '''Trejue Gulf '''and into the Western Sea. From the Buchid (some say Weer) the longest river in the Head that flows all the way to the western coast is the '''Effinit River '''which is the only river to remain its original size and length after the Destruction. The Weer is fed by the yearly snowmelt from the Scalp Mountains as well as the smaller easternmost lake; '''Lake Shin-In '''which also flows into the Weer. And then there is the '''Centrum Lake '''also known as '''The Hole '''in the center of The Head that is actually the only surface water of a large underground lake that spans much of the region. '''The Suba River '''that flows from Centrum Lake is a very narrow river but extremely deep one with many chasms at the higher elevations and also flows to the History The first people to arrive in The Head region did not arrive or stay by choice but had been driven there by war tribes during the Tribal period. They are believed to have first settled at the split of the Long Wash for a while before the presence of the Torso war tribes grew to power and roamed across the whole region, attacking smaller weaker groups. The Sommish ancestors though were already one of the largest in all of the Torso and had been attempting to settle in that area for some time. Their size made them a force to be reckoned with but they had no defenses to protect themselves which made them easy targets for raids. Though they tried to outlast the war tribes that constantly harangued them for years, they eventually were forced to leave their failed settlement and moved north where they knew the war tribes had not ventured into yet. At first they found it to be a peaceful area, but their peace was short lived as the tribes followed and once again showed no mercy towards the sedentary groups. It was then that the Sommish group began to splinter and divide into all directions as they believed they would be safer in smaller groups and that the war tribes would be less likely to target them. Sadly, this was not true and most of the groups that attempted to survive alone died out. One large group did remain though and continued north hoping to finally find a place that the war tribes would not follow. They continued this for nearly twenty years until they reached the Killen River at the south of the head. Initially, their plan was to settle the area and hope that they had distanced themselves far enough away from the southern tribes as they had before. It was here that they first began to experience the cold north as the winter winds were in full effect at that time and they believed that this would be their saving grace. But as before, once the warm weather returned, the war tribes once again moved further north in pursuit of their long time prey. It became apparent to the Sommish that they had to stand and fight these barbarians if they were ever going to survive and decided to mount their defense there at the Killen River as it provided a strategic defensive position for their small group. For the next year the Sommish group fought back every attempted raid and attack on their village until the tribes ceased. During that time they garnered a large number of other northern tribes that were frequent targets of the war tribes. Despite their success against the barbarians though, the leaders of the group believed that the encroachments would never end as long as the war tribes existed but were unwilling to send an attack against any tribes so as not to spark any more attention to their northward exodus as groups grew in power to the south and the Piriskins began to make a presence of themselves. Instead they decided to travel further north where no man had dared to settle before as the land was cold an unknown. They had resided in their current location for only a couple of years at that point but believed it may be their only chance at peace and were willing to take that risk. And so, at the beginning of the Age of Unification, the city of Somme was founded and all areas north of the Killen River were now under the domain of Somme and its people. They adopted the identity of “Sommish” peoples because that was their first official settlement in a time that settlements were what definied the nationality of people rather than its borders which was not a recognized thing yet. The Sommish were quick to adapt and learned quickly that it was the arctic winds that made the Head so cold and found that building their city and outposts below the ground level sheltered them in a way from the winds and also made for excellent defensive fortifications against the lingering war tribes. Though it did not completely stop the war tribes from following and continuing its attacks; it did make it extremely difficult and lead to the destruction of many barbarian groups as they were in no way fit for the harsh climate of the north. Those that were able to quickly adapt became the prey then as the new Sommish people attacked the weakening tribes until they were completely dismantled or retreated south. Somme was the main settlement for the Sommish with very few who settled elsewhere as the settlement was the first and quickly constructed to battle the elements. Most of the northern settlements would use this same design of digging massive squares or circles in the soft ground so that the buildings were situated below ground level and were not in direct path of wind sweeping across the hilly grassland. Somme was also the only one to have built fortifications around its town while the others only built thin wooden palisades or short walls. Somme was quick to construct a stone wall that would be rebuilt many times through its history as better forms of construction were adapted and the city grew. It wasn’t long before the Sommish people began to expand though as their population grew much faster than the city could and so many formed villages throughout the whole head which led to an extensive trade network throughout the Head. It was around this time that the first king of Somme took power by being chosen by the group leaders and is believed to have been the one that suggested moving further north instead of staying and fighting, though he would have been very old by the time this happened as the time gap is large. But it is certain that it was the first king that decreed that the people would be known as the people of the nation of Hartham from then on, deriving the name from the Sommish word for “together,” as they had always been since the beginning of their journey years and years ago. Hartham would be the only nation present in the Head as no other groups were willing to settle in the cold north like them. There were some small groups and tribes that settled along the southern border at the Neck, usually around the Killen River but Hartham paid them little mind as long as they remained peaceful. Even when it began to expand and establish smaller settlements throughout the region, they did not force or threaten any groups near them to vacate their lands as they had been forced to by the war tribes before. Their decision to expand and set up other cities, which was different than the other major factions of the time, was a response to the Vasil and Piriskins in the Torso that were constantly testing the Hartham land claims and attacking groups in the northern Torso, forcing them to move into Hartham lands. For a time, Hartham would not allow these groups join their nation and only allowed them to live on their lands but not integrate with the Sommish people. But as more and more villages were created and trade between outside groups became more common, the laws against integration seemed to simply fade out as the Sommish people didn’t see outsiders as a threat. There was some opposition towards this in the northern towns and especially in Somme itself as they wanted to keep their bloodlines pure but never before had such a thing been prevalent to the Sommish and some believed it to be foolish. Those that opposed the outsiders were only willing to allow them in as slaves but the Hartham King of that time was firmly opposed to the idea of slavery as those before him were horrified by the idea of it as their ancestors had experienced it at the hands of the war tribes. With the population of the North growing more and more, it was difficult for the King of Hartham to oversee the entire region from Somme that was so far away from the Scalp and Neck. '''King Pantor '''had two sons, who were both natural born leaders in their own right and decided that there would be two kings of equal power to rule all of Hartham. The sons, though not happy with this decision, complied with their father’s decision and laws that dictated the new kingship. There would be no separate laws for any region and any new or altered laws had to be decided and agreed upon by both kings. Hartham did not maintain a standing army and left it to his sons to raise their own forces in times of need but the army would be held to the same code and were one force in war time. '''Ranicur, First King of the South, established his home and court in the village of Sawrera '''that was situated north of Eves of the Killen Forest. Though he was unsatisfied with his kingship over the south rather than the developed north, Ranicur looked to build up the south as best he could and did just that during his reign. His brother, '''Pandont, '''ruled the north from Somme which would remain the northern king’s seat until his grandson, '''Pantor II '''relocated to the coastal town of '''Rei '''that would become rich and prosperous from developing sea trade after Pandont. Somme would remain the capital city and meeting point of the two kings and their advisors. Through much of the Age of Unification, Hartham grew into one of the strongest nations in all of Magnamia and was able to fine tune its agricultural, military, and political practices in its peacetime as it faced no real threats. Hartham had also taken efforts to explore the entirety of their region and expanded as far as they could across it and even beyond. With sea travel making its appearance in the south, Hartham also began to extend its gaze beyond its coast but was limited by the cold arctic seas around them. They did however discover the Boralis continent but found it to be even less hospitable than the Head and so made no attempt to settle it. It did however give rise to the idea of lands beyond Magnamia which spread across the continent. Some tribes and groups had moved into the Scalp or eastern mountain region, forming mountain clans that gave Hartham some trouble but were no serious threat except to those that ventured deep into the mountains. Hartham did have a couple of mining settlements within the Scalp but they were heavily garrisoned as troops were not needed elsewhere. Before the Period of Destruction, the small group known as the Irelati moved into the southern part of the head to escape the constant conflict of the Torso like many other tribes. This group though reached out to Hartham to ask for protection from any aggressors as they were strongly religious and believed in complete and absolute pacifism. Hartham’s king had them swear their neutrality and pacifism before promising any sort of protection but came to trust and respect the Irelati group as they shared their goods and cultures with each other. This bond was short lived though as the Irelati began to notice the colder winters with each passing year and a change in the environment; not only in the Head but across Magnamia from its dealings with other groups. Without notice, the Irelati left the head without so much as a warning to Hartham or any of the groups in the head as they had foreseen the coming blight. Their decision to travel to Boralis was not easily made as they considered many other places but knew ultimately that they would not find the same peace they had in The Head and thus concluded that their only option for their religious group was to travel north beyond the continent. '''Period of Destruction During the Period of Destruction as the Hartham villages faced the harsh winters that drove people out of their small villages into the larger ones, the mountain clans, the only group besides Hartham in the head during that time, found a different way to hide from the cold and survive the never ending cold. For much of the period, the Hartham mining villages were abandoned as there was no need for metals and stone and so the mountain clans moved into them unopposed. But they knew that this would not solve their problem of proper shelter as the previous owners had already been driven out. Even villages deep inside the mountain range were not spared from the colder winds. Some would not survive but a few found the deep mines that had been excavated for many years prior served as excellent shelter from the cold weather and winds. What started first as simple homes built inside the mines turned into excavating deeper into the mountains and carving out homes and even villages into the ground and rock under the mountains. They were able to use the mines convenient natural ventilation to vent out the smoke from their large fires they built underground as to not smoke themselves out. These underground villages are some of the only ones in all of Magnamia that survive the Period of Destruction almost unaffected by the changing conditions of the period and these ones specifically, thrive during the period. It isn’t until after the period that the villages create underground tunnels to one another but they are linked together during the period in attempting to create a trade network of goods that are scarce during that time which allows each one to survive. This link creates a strong bond between the mountain clans and one that will survive the test of time until Hartham takes great steps to finally oust them from their land many years later. Hartham during the Period of Destruction, like all other major nations faces devastating effects from the changes in climate and natural disasters. What affected the Sommish people the most during the period was the perennial winters through the whole period and even colder winter times. Though the Sommish people had become hardy and resistant to the normal cold; the never ending cold made almost no time for them to grow crops and drove wildlife away making it difficult to gather enough food and other supplies for the winters that forced them to stay and starve in their towns which led to the deaths of thousands. As mentioned before, villages were abandoned when they were unable to gather food or supplies from nearby and the inhabitants traveled to the larger settlements in hope of them having larger stores of supplies. And though they did have sufficient supplies for a time, the increased settlement populations quickly became too much to handle and led to extreme rationing. But even with all of this hardship, the sommish people endured and resisted violence between their fellow countrymen and looked to one another to make it through this difficult time. At the Neck, the Killen River which had always been the divide between the Head and Torso was frozen for much of the Period which like the other rivers in the head was not surprising but for its size and southern location was a bit of an oddity. The frozen rivers themselves did not affect the people much until the end of the Period when they began to thaw out along with the snow and ice in the hills and mountains that drained into the river. It wasn’t long before the entire neck became flooded and for five years was completely impassible by any means. The landscape transformed from a cold water lowlands into a dense marsh that spanned from the Budov Lake to the Shudora Lake as the river overflowed from all the drainage. But after the flooding as the river subsided and the land began to dry, the Southern King decided to build dams and outflows from the river to keep the area flooded as a natural defense against southern invaders which would become extremely effective in the region’s future. From then on the only ways into the Head were along the narrow man made roads that traveled between numerous Sommish strongholds and forts or to travel all the way around either of the lakes. But to the East, Lake Shudora and the Mountains Spine made it near impossible without guide or boat and to the West it was a long journey that could take days to complete on foot.